Mars was once believed to be home to intelligent life. This came from the discovery of lines or grooves in the surface called canali by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. He believed that these were not naturally occurring and were proof of intelligent life. However, these were later shown to be an optical illusion.The Artemis Program is a United States-led international human spaceflight program. It was initiated in 2017 under the Trump administration with the primary goal of returning humans to the Moon, specifically the lunar south pole, in the mid-2020s (first crew in 2024).^[2][7] If successful, it will be the first crewed lunar mission since the end of the Apollo program in 1972.

The Artemis Program formally began in December 2017 as the culmination of successive efforts to revitalize the U.S. space program since 2009. Its stated short-term goal is landing the first woman on the Moon; mid-term objectives include establishing an international expedition team and a sustainable human presence on the Moon, long-term objectives are laying the foundations for private companies to build a lunar economy, and eventually, make sending humans to Mars and beyond feasible.^[8]